Home Sweet Roll

 The first thing I will say about Stroud’s, and this is specifically in regards to the Oak Ridge Manor location, is that I love sitting in the foyer, waiting for a table.  Really, I just love being at Stroud’s.  I love being on the premises; I love waiting for a table; I love sitting in their dining room and looking out over their land.  It is a beautiful building on beautiful property.  The first time I went, I sat there in the foyer and marveled at the converted Manor building.  To my right was the bar, which brought back memories of the bar in the hotel in Germany that I lived at for several months as a child.  Everything was made of wood and the lights were left low.  In front of me was a slightly ajar door that led to a steep, narrow stairwell.  I sat there, wondering what might be up those stairs.  The servant’s quarters perhaps, or maybe it led to the vacated (perhaps haunted?) sleeping chambers of the lord of the manor.  It was likely where the manager’s office was or maybe a storage area for the restaurant, but it was fun to sit there and speculate.  

As they took us to our table, I felt like I was on a tour at one of those restored pioneer village museums.  The building is just incredible to walk through.  The floor creaks as you take your steps, the lights hang from the ceiling and give a soft light that seems to be soaked up by the dark wood walls, rather than bounce off of them.  The table they brought us to that first time was right in the corner, with large windows on either side looking out over the pond in the restaurant’s back yard.  It is easily the most beautiful restaurant I have been to in Kansas City since moving here.

The building is not all of what makes Stroud’s so great though.  It is the, mostly, perfectly pulled off trifecta of the ambiance, the food, and the way the food is served that makes Stroud’s what it is.  Stroud’s is a family style dining experience.  They bring all the sides and appetizers to your table in large serving dishes, like what your grandmother might have used at the family dinner table.  Instantly, it feels like you are a guest at an intimate family get together.  Whether you choose the mashed potatoes or the mac and cheese, you are allowed to and expected to dig in to any of it with the provided serving spoons.  Pass the dishes around and load up your plate; they will bring more if needed.  It is at this time, as well, when they ask you the all important question, “Do you want the cinnamon rolls now or as dessert?”  They do not ask if you want the cinnamon rolls; that would be a profoundly dumb question.  They just want to know when to bring them.  We always choose to have them at the end, so I will get to those later.

When it is time for the main course, they bring it out the same way: on large plates that you serve yourself from.  There are exceptions to this, but if you order the restaurant’s main dish, it’s heart and soul, the fried chicken, it comes on a plate to be shared.  This can be a little problematic, as you may have ordered two dark meat pieces and one white meat piece and someone else may have ordered all white meat.  It can take some coordination to make sure you get the pieces you ordered, but, the way they serve it is such an integral part to the place’s charm, I can overlook the one weak point in their efficiency here.  The only other negative I have experienced at Stroud’s, though, also has to do with the fried chicken.  And this one may be more of a fluke than an issue.  The first time I went, I ordered the original recipe chicken and it was not great.  I have been to Stroud’s five times now, and four of those times every single bite I have eaten has been nothing but mouthwatering, stomach comforting, goodness.  That first time, though, the fried chicken (again Stroud’s heart and soul) was dry and thin on the batter.  I cannot overlook that first experience, but it has been consistently overshadowed by good, ever since.

Let’s get more into the food now, though, as with the exception of that one time, the food here is perception altering.  I say that, because I have never viewed fried chicken as anything other than a grease sponge.  Maybe that’s because most of my experience with the food has been with KFC, or the like.  But Stroud’s taught me, after a few times eating there, that fried chicken can be just as layered and nuanced as a well done pasta dish or a skillfully crafted burger.  So, the place literally altered my perception of the food.  It took some time, though, to want to try it for a second time.  This is how I learned that Stroud’s has the best chicken fried steak that I have ever tasted.  Every part of it is tailored to do one thing; comfort you.  The breading is heavy, but soft.  The meat is perfectly cooked.  It is the gravy, however, that puts it in a different realm from any other chicken fried steak I have had.  To adequately describe why the gravy is so good, I have to back up and detail how the chicken is fried.  

At Stroud’s, they do not drop the chicken into a vat of grease.  Instead, they pan fry it.  They take a pan, put in a good portion of grease, but not enough to completely submerge the chicken and they fry it.  I do not know exactly how this makes the chicken better, but I imagine it gives them more control than the typical method of deep frying.  What I do know is that it allows them to then take the drippings from that pan and make gravy out of it, something you could not do if you used a deep fryer.  The result is the most deeply comforting food I have ever experienced; Stroud’s country gravy.  And when they take that gravy and smother the chicken fried steak with it, some truly unforgettable is created.  I can taste its rich spices and greasy goodness now, as I write.  

It was my third trip back when I decided to try the fried chicken again.  I had heard so much about it, that I had to give it another shot.  It was also a decision made immediately after seeing the blurb on the menu, “New Hot Chicken Recipe.”  I love some heat to my food, so this convinced me I had to try the chicken again and this time get the spicy stuff.  Before the main course, however, were the sides.  So, let’s start there.  The sides at Stroud’s are exactly as advertised: home-style.  Everything tastes like it was made by someone who loves you.  Not literally; that would be weird, but it is the best way I can convey the care that seems to be put into the preparation.  The mashed potatoes which, of course, you can ladle that amazing gravy onto, are a good density and lumpy enough that you know they are real.  It is completely possible that the sense of love I get from eating them is simply a trick of the way they are served, but if that is the case, then it works and should be commended.  All meals come with green beans, whether you order them as a side or not, because you know grandmother wants you to eat your veggies.  These are some good green beans, too; definitely not from a jar.  Like all the other food at Stroud’s, they are seasoned in such a way that there are layers to the flavor, but the main flavor is always the right one. In this case, the flavor of the green beans take center stage and the spices just bring that out.

That same mentality with the spices along with the method of pan frying is what comes together to make the fried chicken so good. Just as with the beans, the spices add complexity and layers.   The seasoning seems to be a “heavy on the black pepper” blend that just adds richness to everything.  The black pepper cuts through the greasy flavor, too, so it keeps that from being overbearing.  The chicken, however, is the flavor of the day and is what stands out.  The spices just bring out that flavor and add some nuance to it.  Of course, with the hot blend, there is more potency to the spices, some cayenne pepper, perhaps.  It is a good heat, but not distracting.  That is a hard balance to pull off.  The meat itself is juicy and tender.  A big problem I have with chicken is that even when it is cooked through, it can taste under-cooked to me.  Probably, just me being paranoid, but it can be an issue. I had no such issue at Stroud’s, though.  Maybe it’s the increased control that I think the pan frying might give them; maybe they are just good at cooking chicken just right; either way, the result has forever changed the way I look at fried chicken. 

The chicken, however, is not where Stroud’s story ends.  It is the main feature, to be sure, but the finale is the aforementioned cinnamon rolls.  These things are amazing.  They are almost like little dinner rolls, but smothered in a cinnamon sugar mixture.  They are so warm and soft, inside and so sweet and almost crunchy from the cinnamon outside that it is hard to stop eating them.  That is why, when asked, you should always opt to have the rolls last.  They may look like dinner rolls, but if you have them with your other food, there is a good chance you will fill up on rolls and never touch the chicken.  As good as the rolls are, that would be a shame.  Besides, the rolls really are the exclamation point on Stroud’s story.  It is the story of a restaurant that wants you to feel at home and of food that epitomizes the very idea of comfort food.